Songo-La Maya

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Songo La Maya. Municipality of the Santiago de Cuba province that has a territorial extension of 719.83 km 2 , occupies 11.7 percent of the province’s surface and the fifth place among the municipalities. In December 2006 it had a population of 93,832 inhabitants, distributed in 16 Popular Councils and 101 population settlements, six of them with urban characteristics, La Maya being the head of the municipality: (47,680 males and 46,152 females) of the total 40.0 per one hundred corresponds to the urban part and 60.0 to the rural part.

Summary

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  • 1 Location
  • 2 History
    • 1 Neocolonia (1899–1925)
    • 2 Liberation Struggles: The Color Independents
      • 2.1 Political parties
      • 2.2 Liberation struggles before the coup
    • 3 Development of the territory
      • 3.1 Sugar production
      • 3.2 Popular Councils
    • 3 Features
      • 1 Geology
      • 2 Physical-Geographic
      • 3 Soils
      • 4 Climate
      • 5 Relief
      • 6 Flora
      • 7 Fauna
      • 8 Hydrography
      • 9 Vegetation
    • 4 Economic development
      • 1 Important industries
    • 5 Social Development
      • 1 Education
      • 2 Culture
        • 2.1 Traditions
          • 2.1.1 Festivities of San José
        • 2.2 Equity
      • 3 Health
      • 4 Sport
    • 6 Defense in the territory
      • 1 The Third Congress of the PCC
    • 7 See also
    • 8 Sources
    • 9 External links

Location

Songo La Maya is located to the southeast of the Santiago de Cuba province , limits to the north with municipalities II in front and San Luis , to the west with the municipalities of San Luis and Santiago , to the south with the municipality of Santiago, to the east with the province from Guantanamo .

History

Before the war of 1868 it was the residence of a Party Captain, the parish was later destroyed and transferred, along with the town to the railway’s whereabouts. Concepción de Ti Arriba was founded in 1832 . Its church was built in 1842 , composed of three naves of solid masonry. Its population was 111 inhabitants, of them 18 whites, 71 free blacks and 22 slaves, but according to data from 1858 158 were consigned to said neighborhood.

Jurisdiction of Santiago de Cuba comprised in mid- 1850 to Jutinicú as one of its major first – class matches. Its territory encompassed the old party captainships of Moroto , San Andrés , Piloto Arriba , Bolaños , Rojas and Demajagua . Its surface was generally mountainous, with very fertile land washed by tributaries of the Cauto that cross the territory in all directions. Most of its inhabitants were dedicated to agriculture in its 63 mills and 55 coffee plantations existing here by 1862. This very rugged area with its main heights, the hill of Jutinicú, that of the Falcon, that of the Cat and of the Blind.

The population was made up of a considerable number of whites, a minority of Asian colonists and a majority of free and emancipated black slaves. Alto Songo emerged in 1869 as a result of the reconcentration of numerous families fleeing from the war. The most accurate version of the name of the place responds to the fact that there was a mill called “Songo” owned by a wealthy “Marqués de Yarayabo” and “Alto” ​​is added because it is in the highest area of ​​the region . He then understood his jurisdiction to the parties of Jutinicú, of which he had previously formed part and Ti Arriba, being segregated from the jurisdiction of Santiago de Cuba .

The already-municipal Alto Songo area occupied an area of ​​955 km2 composed of the neighborhoods: north, south, Morón , Loma del Gato , El Palenque , La Sabana , Mayarí Arriba , El Socorro , Florida Blanca , La Maya , Jarahueca and Ti Arriba . The crops mainly in these neighborhoods were: Coffee , Cane , Cacao , minor fruits, tobacco , wood and some cattle raising. The town of La Maya was founded as a result of the end of the war of independence by residents of the neighborhoods of El Socorro, Ti Arriba and Palenque. It was named after the fences of said plant that existed there to protect the buildings from mules.

Neocolony (1899–1925)

Penetration of Yankee imperialism in the territory. Impact on the economy:

With the cessation of Spanish domination in the territory the government auditor appointed in 1899 to Francisco Diaz Medina as deputy mayor; to Juan Galí García as judge and treasurer Juan Fernandez . In this way, and under the governmental and legal representation of these officials, the imperialist penetration began, directed fundamentally towards the prioritized branches of the economy , mining and agriculture ; those that from then on suffered in a ruthless way the exploitation of the oligarchy subservient to Yankee Imperialism .

Liberation Struggles: The Color Independents

With the establishment of the Neocolonial Republic in 1902, the great masses of blacks and mestizos, as well as the oppressed in general, did not realize their aspirations for social justice, since racial discrimination was felt more strongly in the structure that lasted in the neocolony. , in society in general, became more evident, accentuating social inequalities for those who struggled to achieve a frustrated ideal of social justice. In order to analyze the antecedents and causes of the movement in the territory, in addition to those already known referred to by current historiography, it is opportune to carry out an analysis of why in Songo La Maya and in particular La Maya, the setting and only town taken by the colored independents.

The population of the territory amounted to 20,553 inhabitants, of which 8,109 were black and 6,444 mestizos, which together amounted to 14,553 inhabitants and represented 70.8% of the total population, 39.4% of blacks and 31.4 % mestizos. In the province of Oriente, for this time, 14.83% were black and 28.9% were mestizos, with 42.92% between blacks and mestizos, which indicated that in the municipality it is much higher in proportion to the province. independently, and in percent relative to the general population almost doubles the figure in percent. The highest proportion of blacks in the province was found in Alto Songo and in the largest quantity the neighborhoods of La Maya, Ti Arriba and Palenque de Cuatro CaminosFor these last two, La Maya surpasses you. The proportion of the black and mestizo population added to the white presented higher indicators than those of the rest of the province.

Political parties

With the dissolution of the main political organizations that the Cuban revolutionaries had: the Cuban Revolutionary Party and the Liberation Army, as well as the Assembly of Representatives , Cubans of the different groups and sectors were left with a way through which they could manifest their opinions, that is why there was a regrouping of the various forces that began to dispute political power among themselves, which allowed them to exercise the imperialists throughout the republic, as there was no party representing the working class, they were formed representing various sectors political parties that separately represented each of their class interests.

The 1 of June of 1901 in Alto Songo they threw out 845 of the 1,475 voters not doing 630, they returned to elect mayors, councilors and treasurers for the period of one year, not judges their designations ceased to be elective, the Mayors will be elected from this year until 1908, then the Electoral Law indicated their election for a period of 4 years through direct suffrage by the vote of the councilors. From 1908politics was monopolized by the liberal and conservative parties that represented and defended the interests of the oligarchy in the country and therefore exercised control of political life. Since the emergence of the neo-colonial Republic, rivalries began to occur between the different parties of the time. After the occupation government with the appointment of the deputy mayor, a whole struggle began for political power that in some cases became the designation, in correspondence with the interests of the governments in office, as is the case of José Francisco Days Don Pepe appointed by President Leonardo Word , and in others with the predominance of electoral fraud and disturbance. The most prominent figures of the Liberal Partyin the territory were Salvador Virgilí Auty and Lino Mancebi Rosell .

For the conservatives, Santiago Sánchez Rogers and Dr. Manuel Riera stood out . The social composition of these parties was similar to that of the rest of the country: small and medium owners, appeared later in their ranks, large and wealthy owners, especially in the ranks of liberalism, doctors and lawyers, however the most influential in the Politics were found in the ranks of the Liberal Party. The control exercised by these parties was manifested in the fact that between 1912 and 1920, all liberals or conservatives, or in other cases representatives of another party, such as the provincial party, which with the transformation and merger of these parties, with the exception of the one who then joined the ranks of liberalism, Colonel of the Liberation Army Ricardo Rizo remained from 1908 to 1916 . The caudillismo that at this stage was expressed at the national level had its expression in the territory with this example, the liberal party won in 1908 with 1933 votes, imposing itself on the conservative Luís García, with only 410 votes.

At the end of his term as President of the Republic José Miguel Gómez , Mario García Menocal became president, who managed to stay in office thanks to the frauds committed until 1921 ; electoral fraud was the characteristic that most marked this era of the republic and also led to a revolt of the liberals known as ” La Chambelona “, a name that was used as part of the propaganda in the electoral campaign with the use of that song that for that reason became very well-known. The elections held in November of 1916 presented as a candidate of the Liberal Party to Alfredo Zayas rival asJosé Miguel Gómez , the results of the voting were altered in favor of the Conservative Party, this caused a liberal revolt led by José Miguel Gómez that had the support of the army and the broad masses of other provinces, including Oriente and in particular Santiago de Cuba , where the liberals controlled the region and settled in the town of Alto Songo , where Ricardo Rizo Heredia served as mayor .

With the seizure of the town of Songo during the crash, Mayor Ricardo Rizo was seriously injured. As a result of this, the elections were annulled and the fights between the liberals and conservatives increased markedly. With the prolongation of this armed movement, the “saving solidarity” presence of the North American troops that mediated, as they did on other occasions, was present. With the delivery of the troops to Santiago de Cuba, the commanders Rigoberto Fernández and Luís Loret de Mola, the first to be appointed military leader of the East during the revolt and one of its prominent figures, withdrew with his troops to this area of ​​Songo La Maya, and attempted to prolong the uprising and prevent the advance of the troops representing Menocal. , which he did not achieve with little resistance on March 28, the town of Alto Songo was taken.

In the elections held in 1920 the Conservative Party triumphed in Alto Songo with the representation of Santiago Sánchez Róger who defeated the liberal Salvador Virgilí Auty . From 1922 the mayor’s office of the territory assumed the predominant party: Liberal in the figure of the defeated Dr. Salvador Virgilí Auty who remained until 1928 .

Liberation struggles before the coup

The municipality had a rich economy, however its rather rugged topography limited the practice of certain crops. It owned two sugar mills Algodonal and Baltoni, today Salvador Rosales and Los Reinaldo, which had approximately 700 caballerias of sugarcane to feed their industry, in addition to another 340 that were available to other factories. Its fertile soils were favorable for the cultivation of coffee . In the 1955 – 1956 harvest in Alto Songo, more than 190,000 qq of this bean was produced, much of the coffee production in the region was processed in the Alto Songo destroying plants.. Its forest wealth, valuing another line of the economy, was first line composed of abundant precious wood, such as mahogany , cedar and majagua , among others. So was the agricultural sector that collected necessary products such as citrus , cocoa , fruit trees , viands and vegetables . On the other hand, these jurisdictional lands, with more than 28.4% of the flat land, led to an accelerated development of livestock .

Taking as a sample the census carried out in 1952, there was a vaccine population of more than 20,000 heads that, in addition to meat, provided approximately 3 million liters of milk . The subsoil was also a source of wealth, being its maximum expression the ponupo manganese mines , which, as a result of the second war of aggression of the United States against Korea, were exploited to the maximum in function and exclusive interest of North American imperialism. This wealth turned the largest population center of the term, La Maya , into a very active and prosperous commercial plaza frequented by merchants of all kinds, intermediaries, lenders and loan sharks.

The years from 1934 to 1958 were characterized by a permanent crisis in the Cuban economy. Fulgencio Batista came to power in the middle of it. The country was entering a phase of economic depression again, as a result of the sugar policy that the President of the Republic, Carlos Prío Socarrás, had carried out in the previous period. Production rose to more than 7,000,000 tons, without taking into account the repercussions that this would have for the world market. The dictatorship established a restrictive policy as a way to dispose of the tons that were unsold in December 1959. The sugar oligarchy concentrated in this area was not exempt from these restrictions, an example of this phenomenon given in the main economic line of the region can be evidenced in the response that agricultural and industrial workers of the Baltoni and Algodonal plants gave to this situation. Referring to the 1955 harvest, the Diario de Cuba newspaper pointed out on one of its pages.

“At the important general assembly of workers and residents of the Baltoni power plant held at noon yesterday (…) various speeches were made by the workers’ leaders calling for the free harvest, as a means of fighting hunger and misery that necessarily bring the restrictions … ”

But also in the same period dated 17 March from the 1955 reference it is made to the cuts made in this harvest insignificant compared to the cane left standing and that there was ground for restriction policy. Despite this demand from the workers who were looking for ways and means to solve their problems, the infamy and demagoguery of the bosses prevailed, who never wanted to be harmed as to offer any benefit to them, such is the case of the solution that the owner of this Once the harvest is over, the central office asks Mr. Baldomero Casas and Raúl Solas to extend the work time a little longer . They agreed to make honeys for 275 days with the 40% discount.

When consulting the sugar yearbooks, from 1952 to 1960 , it has been possible to appreciate the decrease in the working days of the harvest and the effective days of milling. Sugar production behaved unstable. Taking the Salvador Rosales plant as a sample, we observed a decrease in the 1955 harvest , it registered 91 955 tons in 325-pound bags, this calculation if we take into account the results of 1952 (117,013) tons in bags of 325 pounds, plus those of 1956 (125.0889) tons in bags of 325 pounds corroborate the situation of instability given in the sugar sector during this period on the behavior of sugar production since the year1952 to 1959 in the “Algodonal” and “Baltony” plants.

This situation brought with it low incomes and rising costs in the lives of the region’s colonists and to a large extent a general increase in unemployment and misery for agricultural and sugar workers, making downtime longer.

Carlos Rafael Rodríguez , in his work; ” The Cuban Revolution and the transition period” stated:

… “If the wages paid to the sugar sector have been from 338.4 million in 1951 they fell in 1955 to 20 million, likewise, the total income of the colonists fell from 329 million in 1951 to 204 million in 1955. This It also determined the well-known consequences of seasonal unemployment, since the harvest was reduced from 93 days to 68 days in 1955 and the limited growth in agriculture did not add employment to more than 10% of the agricultural labor force, resulting in rural misery. it was for extendable years. ”

Territory development

The control of railroads, as well as the construction of new tracks by North American monopoly companies, was completed between 1900 and 1912 . At the end of the 19th century, the communication routes and railway stations that existed as public transport were from Sabanilla, Maroto and were considerably affected by the war. These lines linked the city of Santiago de Cuba with the town of San Luís at north and with the La Maya area to the northwest. It was built in 1858 until Maroto and expanded in 1895towards the Songo La Maya area; hence the railroad played an important role as a means of transportation; Due to the state it was in in these years, a series of improvements were put into effect, including:

  • Raise and blast the track.
  • Substitute beam sleepers and rails in poor condition.
  • Cleans and weeds gutters, as well as the construction of the floors and walls of all sewers on the road.

The Maya station, almost destroyed by the war, was repaired, painted and opened to the public, the Morón station was also repaired. A first-class car and a new third-class car were put into circulation. All the locomotives underwent general repairs in the company’s workshop; The Songo company had 60 new flushers, an asbestos lining and the fliers turned.

The stations of the system were not excluded from the renovation work carried out by the railway’s board of directors in 1900, without a doubt, of the role that the Sabanilla-Maroto railway would have to play as the most important part in the early years of the central railway. During these years, the railway played an important role in the economy of the area and of the entire Santiago region, as it was a means of transport to the port of Santiago de Cuba, of sugar production from mills, coffee, tobacco, and wood. the manganese production of the Ponupo Mining Transportation Company that operated in the Sabanilla area.

The landowners of the region themselves were the ones who financed the works and by virtue of the importance of the railroad for the transportation of the mineral to the port, most of it came under the control of the aforementioned company. In 1907, a new North American company, The Railrood Company, built the Boquerón Siempre – San Luís railway that connected the Guantánamo region with Santiago and entered through the Maya and Songo zones, this section did not play the same role as the previous one in the sugar transport since the sugar production of 1906 – 1907 had only one plant in existence and had stopped grinding. It is not until 1917 that the “Almeida” power station (“Los Reinaldos”) was built, that the new road began to be used for this purpose, hence its main activity was the transport of passengers and merchandise from Guantánamo to Santiago.

Sugar production

During the colonial period there were a large number of sugar mills that were disappearing at the gates of the new century as a consequence of the actions that basically resulted in the insubordination of black slaves, burning of sugar cane fields, sugar mills, division of property lawsuits that originated the sale and purchase and reduction of land that, when sugar production ceased due to not having many owners with resources to renovate and modernize them, was absorbed by the largest, since many of them were small factories and with great technical backwardness or dedicated to the cultivation of abundant coffee and cocoa, such as In the case of the “Perseverancia” and “San Alejandro” sugar mills, the Sabanilla sugar mill with 268 caballerias remained as part of the sugar cane large estates that were created later, disappearing as a sugar mill in1897 .

Later, in November 1914, it was acquired as an estate by the mercantile company of Marimón Bosch and company and then Federico Almeida, also the “Santa Ana” sugar mill was destroyed. Others went bankrupt due to their owners not having enough capital, such as the “Quemao” sugar mill, which had a very short-lived life and had manganese mines named “Consuelo” and “San Joaquín” on its land, with an area of ​​300,000 and 500,000 M2 respectively, this area is framed in what is currently the sugarcane area of ​​the CAI “Salvador Rosales” where sugarcane settlers also remained until the 1930s. The sugar industry was not the object of North American penetration at the beginning of the century, with the two centrals that existed “Almeida” that later changed its name and owner known as “Baltoni” until the current revolutionary triumph “Los Reinaldos” in 1921 .

In the case of the territory, both mills were owned by Spanish Cubans, although mills held by North American companies predominated in the province, and the firms Marimón Bosch and company and Federico Almeida and nephew controlled the turn of import and export. Another economic activity that experienced a significant increase was the coffee plantation that raised its production levels surpassed in the province only by Palma Soriano. This caused an internal migratory movement to inhospitable places to dedicate themselves to coffee cultivation.Many coffee plantations were also rebuilt and put into operation. At the beginning of the century the recovery began, the productions were meager that barely supplied the needs of the national market, even in a municipality like this one that during the colonial period had great production. By 1906, it already had 406 coffee plantations in operation.

Mining

The First World War conditioned an explosive growth in sugar production, it also activated manganese production and, as we have already pointed out, they predominated in the economic activities of the territory. Since the last century, manganese reached significant values, in this period it adopted a marked interest for its value and use in the war industry, in addition to its possibilities of alloying with other minerals such as steel, it was very useful in the production process so that the desire for its extraction grew. All this together with the fact that it increased its value in the North American market, getting to extract large quantities, which caused conflicts between companies to obtain the greatest quantity of mineral.

At the end of the war there was a decrease in demand, a decrease in prices, which led to its extraction being more limited. The consequent increase in the large estates of sugar cane and mining activity meant that during the first decades of the century the rural population increased due to industrial growth based on sugar cane plantation and mining.

Popular Tips

For political-administrative management, it has 16 Popular Councils and 101 Population Settlements, six of them with urban characteristics, La Maya being the head of the Municipality:

  • Maya East
  • Maya Center
  • Maya West
  • Alto Songo
  • The proof
  • The Reynaldos

features

geology

Limestone, sandstone and conglomerates predominate in its subsoil. The San Luis formation (SLU), which occupies more than 60% of the territory and a central part of it, is made up of fine-grained sandstone, clastic and terrigenous rocks and loamy amine rocks that in some areas emerge as a result of erosion.

There are registered in the territory areas where minerals such as manganese in large proportions and coal abound .

Since the last century, important deposits were registered in the Ponupo Mines, which were subjected to intense and heavy exploitation, Jutinicú , Sabanilla , El Aura and in the Loma del Gato area , the last three being very little exploited, given the Costly processing of the ore (manganese) and its market price stopped being mined, to the point that the mines were closed when the mineral was no longer in high demand, but the areas maintain a large quantity, especially in Ponupo and El Aura.

Physical – Geographic

The most notable geographical features are: El Alto de Miguel in Jarahueca with 739.1 meters, Alto de la Doncella 696.0 meters, Alto del Mirador 681.0 and the plateau of Santa María de Loreto with 634.0 meters above the level from the sea and an extension of 6.5 Km2; A photovoltaic plant capable of providing electrical service for 72 hours without the sun rising has been installed in this place, to a population of approximately 400 inhabitants.

Floors

They present a special distribution in accordance with the geomorphological geological structure that directly influences its composition; classified into four main types: brown, humic, calcimorphic, vertisols and combinations.

The combinations of humic browns with gray calcimorphic carbonates are the most generalized, mainly covering the flat and moderately undulating territory. They are of little productivity, the rough ones predominate, very shallow, but they are subjected to an intense agricultural productivity being used in the sowing of sugarcane, coffee and various crops, due to the correct application of science and technique, which has favored your fertility.

Weather

In the area occupied by the municipality, tropical maritime conditions predominate in the distribution of rainfall. Those that decisively influence the formation of the climate of the region. The municipality is influenced by the subregion (Eastern Caribbean) characterized by relatively rainy trade winds that determine areas of abundant rainfall. In the formation of the characteristics of the climate, the amount of solar radiation is decisive, finding our municipality in one of the areas with the highest solar radiation in the country. This area is affected by important meteorological events such as hurricanes.

The average temperature of the area ranges between 24 degrees Celsius.

The variation of the daily temperature exceeds the annual variation, which clearly shows the altitude zonal of the thermal regime, with two types of territory differing in the area, with a variation of maximum interior plains of 30 to 35 degrees Celsius, minimum of 15 to 25 degrees Celsius and maximum heights and mountains of 20 to 30 degrees Celsius and minimum of 15 to 20 degrees Celsius.

The maximum annual wind speeds are associated with the passage of frontal systems, a center of low extratropical pressures and tropical disturbances such as cyclonic disturbances and hurricanes.

Pressure and wind vary throughout the year with January and July standing out as contrasting months.

Relief

The municipality’s territory is limited between two important orographic groups, the Sierra de la Gran Piedra and the Meseta de Santa María del Loreto to the south and the mountainous group of Sierra Cristal to the north. Its main elevations are the Loma del Halcón , Jutinicú , Los Ciegos , La Gloria , La Galleta and Loma del Gato .

The mountainous area occupies 41.9% with 306.7 km2 and the flat part 58.1% with 414 km2.

The plains and the undulating and moderately dissected areas are located in the upper reaches of the Guantánamo and Guaninicum rivers, where the sustainable economy of the municipality is centered, such as the industrial sugarcane sector, various crops and livestock. In the hilly, mountainous and plateau area, forest and coffee crops predominate.

Flora

Among the varieties that make up the flora, we must mention that there are abundant timber trees in the area such as: Mahogany and Cedar as well as Algarrobo , Varía , Majagua , Eucalyptus , Pine , Piedra ax and Siguaraya , which through From the materials sawmill they are processed forming from the economic point of view a way for the development of the territory.

Wildlife

The natural fauna is made up of various endemic birds, although many of them are in an extinction period due to the indiscriminate use of hunting by many inhabitants, such as the Woodpecker , Tocororo , Guinea fowl , Quail , and Pheasant . They are registered in the high area, adjacent to the II Eastern Front, a high representation with 25 varieties concentrated mainly in the Jarahueca and Matahambre area, the Central Valley area with 22 varieties and in the mountainous area belonging to the Sierra Maestra the largest representation with 30 birds, according to the reported number, there are also mammals, mainly those belonging to the rodentía order and chiroópteras.

Equine and pig cattle, although in very specific areas, are located in the territory and concentrated in an important genetic plan in the case of cattle, which is the Plan Vallina, an experimental genetic center of great importance in the province for having within its varieties of high quality Santa Gertrudis cattle located in Loma Azul belonging to the Jarahueca People’s Council.

Hydrography

The main hydrographic sources that the Municipality has are: La Majagua River with 15 km of extension, Jarahueca with 14 km, Joturo 13 km and Platanillo and Macurije with 12 km respectively.

Vegetation

It has abundant vegetation.

Economic development

The geographical characteristics of the municipality show its influence on the distribution of the population and on the economy. Its population reaches the figure of 100,000 inhabitants, which makes it one of the four municipalities considered in the large category, almost half of its population is located in the capital: La Maya , Songo and Los Reynaldos .

The characteristics of the territory impose on it a predominantly agricultural seal with main economic lines such as coffee plantations and the two agro-industrial complexes, located in Los Reynaldo and Salvador Rosales with a milling capacity of 4 million arrobas daily, in addition to the cultivation of viands and vegetables. Bovine, pig farming also has an important place in the local economy. The territory that forms the municipality has obtained substantial achievements to the revolutionary triumph evidenced in its industrial development that is supported by a feed factory located in La Maya, a fruit canning factory in the Ponupo Mines, a Hydroponic, two ice factories located in La Maya and Los Reynaldos.

Important industries

  • Los Reynaldos Ice Factory.
  • La Maya Ice Factory.
  • La Maya Bread Chain Bakery.
  • Canned Fruit Factory.
  • Address UBE Alimentaría.
  • Ice Cream Factory.

Social development

Education

The situation of education in the territory presented a depressing picture, where only a tiny part of the school-age population attended schools, in addition to those who, without being of study age, were illiterate, concentrating mostly in rural areas that occupied by more than 70% of the territory. There were no schools for secondary education and the few for primary education did not have the necessary resources, adding to this that most of them were private.

In 1907, the territory had a total population of 20,553 inhabitants and 1,157 children attended school for 5.61% of the population. Attending school within the province the terms of the largest population, such as Santiago de Cuba , Palma Soriano and Alto Songo. After Santiago de Cuba, the vast majority of 10-year-olds did not have access to schools. The neocolonial model imposed on an eminently agricultural country, fit very well with a municipality like this one, an agricultural par excellence and in which the great mass of the population did not need a high level of education to function in economic life. To this we can add a large number of minors who could not study not only because of the lack of schools, but because they had to help support the family because they are numerous children very common in the territory.

Currently in the area of ​​education, we have 140 primary schools with an enrollment of 8,857 students, 11 basic secondary schools with 4,088 students, 4 pre-universities with 2,162 students, 2 polytechnics with 1,243 students, 2 special schools with 225 students, 1 children’s circle with 176 students; 1,057 students in the Comprehensive Improvement Course and 1,602 in the Álvaro Reynoso del Minaz task . In the municipality there are a total of 36 schools repaired in Turkey plan 14. For the audiovisual study we have 569 computers, 452 videos and 811 televisions; There are also 38 mini Martian forests and 40 solar panels. It should be noted that 12 professionals in this sector carry out internationalist missions.

Culture

In the cultural sphere there are institutions, projects and artistic groups of different manifestations that help to consolidate a more integral culture. * Municipal Culture House ” Juan López Rizo “.

  • House of Culture of Songo “ 27 de Noviembre”
  • Municipal Library “José Maceo”
  • Songo Library ” José Joaquín de Cárdenas”.
  • Art Gallery ” Rodolfo Hernández Giró”.
  • José Maceo GrajalesMuseum .

In the territory there are 90 cultural promoters and 92 art instructors who belong to the different manifestations such as: music, dance, theater, plastic arts and literature. It has a radio station, television, 2 museums, 27 monuments, one of which is national ( Loma del Gato ), and three obelisks; two houses of culture with an extension in the Turquino Plan . Among the main professional groups we have: Sal Son , Sierra Cristal , Septeto Delás , Changüí and Orquesta Angelito y su Banda . We also have three 35mm and three 16mm cinemas, three libraries and an art gallery.

Traditions

San José festivities

In the first two decades of the republic, the church tried to regain its lost position during the wars of independence and showed signs of Cuba with the implementation of the patron saint festivities. The Patron Saint of the Catholic Church of La Maya was founded, San José , and the festivities that became tradition began to be held until the first years of the triumph of the revolution.

The municipal mayor’s office directed the general preparations for the festival, based on them, commissions made up of the church were formed and the bourgeoisie built kiosks for him and the park, like the kiosks, was filled with flowers, coconut sticks and bamboo. The festivals, as they were known, were held on March 18, 19 and 20, people from all over the country attended them, mainly from the surroundings of La Maya, Songo , Guantánamo and Santiago de Cuba ; the attending staff took advantage of the coverage to sell products or develop activities for the enjoyment and fun of the attendees, including: the famous “little horses”. Sack , Horse, Baseball andPalo encebado among others, in the end the winners were awarded.

During the festival days, the kiosks offered roast beef, fried corn, tamales, congrí, cod, all kinds of salads and viands, among other varieties. Artistic and cultural manifestations were also offered that entertained the general part of the show with popular dance music by local groups such as the Orquesta Típica de La Maya, “the Conjunto Cristal “, which was sponsored by Serafín Verdecia who owned the brewery in the populated; also the traganíqueles or vitrolas and the famous manzanilla organ, the rumba, the guaguancó, guarachas, boleros, son, danzón, Mexican and peasant music.

At this time, with the desire to promote recreation, societies that had a class character were organized and access to culture was divided into two groups, black and white: “El Liceo”, a society for whites, and the “Adelante” society for blacks emerged. and mulattoes, the first one resided on Avenida Martí street, today the gastronomic center “El Liceo”, since it maintains the name and the second one on the street itself to the west of the town, its premises are currently the Art Gallery of the territory. The Haitian revolution marked a crucial moment in the conformation of some artistic manifestations that became traditions.

Various cultural elements of Africans, Haitians, French, from the socioeconomic activity developed during the century, mainly the sugar industry and the cultivation of coffee, had a notable influence. The Antillean presence in Cuba, especially in the eastern part of the country, dates from the end of the 18th century with the independence of the Republic of Haiti, which brought about a great migratory movement of white settlers, Franco-Haitian slaves and other strata of colonialist society. Haitian.

Among those artistic manifestations: La Tumba and Tahoma, which were held on a daily basis in towns such as Songo, La Maya, El Socorro, in the latter, Tumba was danced every weekend, on the site of “La Prieta”. The women danced in elegant fitted pale-colored French gowns, fitted at the waist with a wide skirt, collars and flight sleeves adorned with lace, handkerchiefs and headscarves, and their dancers white jackets in summer and winter denim. blue.

Their dances were accompanied by a premier Bull I and II, a Catá, a Tumbadora and under the direction of the King and the Reyna they exercised their elegant dances; Yubá or batliré dances.

In other towns such as Ti Arriba, an area of ​​great French settlement such as the Taureaux, Dauninot, Casternaux, and Taussinet, the tomb festivals enjoyed great fame.

The Tahana, used simpler instruments, the peal at the bottom were two simple trunks hollowed out in one of their mouths, thick ox hides were fixed, stretched with wooden spikes through coarse henequen ropes or ropes.

The Resigné was also another dance demonstration practiced in Haitian communities, mainly slaves who, after completing their work in the cane cuttings, sometimes performed dances, every 15 days or for Easter, when they extended it to more days, the area was decked out lining the area in which they danced with guano leaves, an aspect that has been maintained as a tradition through the kiosks currently used in the traditional carnival festivals.

Heritage

The construction in 1922 of the Town Hall House in the town of Songo , a magnificent construction that keeps within its walls much of the revolutionary work of the town of Songo, in the last era of the liberation war. Today it houses the National Bank on its ground floor and, on the upper floor, the House of Culture of the town. The municipal Bivouac, the abattoirs of the main city and La Maya , the public park that was in front of the town hall, was also built and was named ” Francisco Díaz ” park in honor of its first mayor in the republic “Don Pepe” and It was built in 1924 by popular subscription and initiative of the mayor Santiago Sánchez Róger , the La Maya cemetery was also built.

The Baptist temple of Alto Songo was built during the first intervening government , in which the father of Frank País García was Pastor. Another work of great social importance was the construction of the aqueduct in La Maya in 1918, which was started by a Spaniard surnamed Marganá and at the beginning of the century but later sold to Julio Landeaux and he finished its construction with an extension of one kilometer. The aqueduct was supplied by the Arroyo Chote river that crossed El Socorro and extended to La Maya, in the western part of the town, it did not have a large flow and at present it does not exist.

The aqueduct began to provide services to the population in the same year that its construction was completed. It supplied the main streets: Avenida Martí , Pérez Carbó , Sabanilla , Gallería, Jesús Rabí , Rincón Frío, Los Maceo , Rincón Caliente, Antonio Roldán , Pedro Ivonet and Luis Bonne. The number of consumers was not large considering that the smallest percent of the population was in a position to pay for the service, for this reason, well-to-do families, shopping malls, doctor’s offices and medical houses and other public establishments used them such as barbershop, hairdresser, etc. The technique used at this time by the aqueduct was primitive, the pumping system was established with a steam equipment, a boiler and a pump system, the boiler was fed mainly with coffee straw that was supplied from the coffee dryers that they existed in the area and there were not a few among them: the Mancebo, Couto and brothers, the González.

Undoubtedly, the La Maya aqueduct, despite its limitations, meant a step forward in the territory and although to a lesser extent, it contributed to improving the supply of drinking water to the population.

Health

In our territory there are four hospitals, one of which is a Provincial Psychiatric Hospital, (two urban ones: Los Reynaldos and Alto Songo , and two rural ones, the Psychiatric Hospital and Jarahueca ), 131 family doctor’s offices, two polyclinics, one of which received capital repairs on Carlos J. FinlayIt is located in the Maya East People’s Council, serving more than 26 specialties. In addition, there are nine dental clinics, a therapy room, a rehabilitation room, a hygiene center, a microbiology laboratory, a blood bank, three maternity homes, two nursing homes, three ambulances of which two have already operated. they have their premises to carry out the different service operations throughout the territory and to support other municipalities.

There are a total of 223 doctors, 325 nurses, 40 stomatologists, and 1,700 other health technicians; It should be noted that 116 professionals in this sector carry out internationalist missions in different countries, of these 104 are doctors, 4 nurses and 8 other health technicians. Infant mortality at the end of October 2007 is 4.1 percent of it in the Turquino Plan 1.0 percent. It also has five generators of it in the Turquino Plan one.

Sport

In the Municipality there is a baseball Stadium: José Maceo Grajales , 17 sports facilities, 63 sports areas of them in the Turquino Plan 10 and 534 teachers of these fulfill internationalist missions 41. We also have 126 circles of grandparents having the Plan Turquino 16, with an enrollment of 5 893. High-performance athletes 19, study at ESPA 42 and EIDE 34.

Several athletes have been glory in our municipality, such as the cases of Braudilio Vinent and Reutilio Hurtado | Reutilio Hurtado ; others have followed suit such as:

  • Athletics: Virgen Benavides, Alexis Chivas, Yanelis Veranes and others.
  • Basketball: Kariola Hechavarría and Lissét Terazón
  • Judo: Yudelsis Vicét and Dayeyis Allah
  • Rowing: Magela Despaigne
  • Taekwandó: Yaicét Sánchez
  • Softball: Yesander Rodríguez

Defense in the territory

The policy followed by the Riagan administration of harassment and constant provocation made put into practice the Military Doctrine of War of all the people with its very well defined bases and essential principles to achieve the preparation of all the people, thus guaranteeing the defense of the conquests achieved.

In order to develop the defensive capacity of the territory, the work of preparing the MTT was strengthened, which was revealed through the Bastion 83 and 86 exercises that involved the participation of 80 thousand people actively and consciously, the members of the MTT in its 3 regiments guaranteed efficiency and quality in the development of defense Sundays, the methodological instructional classes as well as the mass shooting practices to not only shoot, but to shoot well, together with the defense production brigades that with their Municipal Defense Council defended and clarified their positions and objectives very well in case of an aggression, the clarification of the fulfillment of the missions.

The work centers were declared “Ready for defense” in the first stage of defense zones and progress was made in the construction of popular tunnels to convert Songo – La Maya into fortified territory.

The Third Congress of the PCC

As a salute to the Third Congress of the PCC the 22 of February of 1985 in a ceremony solemn in the old police headquarters located in La Maya become a Museum of the Revolution were given the commitments of the municipality of hands to his first secretary Felipe Ahuar López the substitute of the Central Committee of the Santos Godoy Hernández Party, who collected, among other things.

The realization of an efficient and productive harvest with the fulfillment of the land preparation, sowing, cultivation and fertilization plans, also prioritized attention to man and self-consumption plans. In non-sugar cane agriculture, more than 10,000 quintals of coffee, 105 of citrus and 7,220 of fruit were delivered.

Optimize quality and promote the movement of model units, mainly in companies related to serving the population. Similarly , Health , Education , UJC , and Defense, which was prioritized by all the people of the municipality, in order to make it an impregnable bastion of the Revolution .

The people of the territory developed enormous efforts to fulfill and over fulfill the main tasks contained in the commitments delivered to the Party leadership, which was evidenced by “Los Reynaldo” when he became the fourth compliant with the harvest of the III Congress in the province surprisingly left back to the “Salvador Rosales” thus he broke a chain of non-compliance of four harvests; fact that had not occurred since the 1979 – 1980 harvest and with four days prior to the scheduled date, it obtained 85.5 of recovery and a yield of 11%, this was joined by “Salvador Rosales” , who two days Later, it fulfilled occupying the fifth place, it ground 1 million 400 thousand arrobas less than the calculated one, however its performance was above the planned 0.42.

The declaration of municipality ” Ready for Defense in the first Stage ” was another of the tasks of the masses, students gave their valuable contribution through volunteer work grouped in the Student Work Brigades .

A titanic effort was made and the results resulted in the fulfillment of multiple economic and social tasks in greeting to the Municipal Assembly of the Party that took place on May 18 , 1985 and to Congress, among which the following stood out:

Those related to cleaning and beautification, productive days in construction, in which the 350 delegates to the Municipal Assembly participated in an outstanding way , in the execution of works such as the construction of sidewalks in the town of Songo , new bus terminal Manguito railway, Yerba de Guinea cafeteria (Songo – La Maya) , Songo Cafeteria – Bar , the Olympic Village of La Maya , the new Hairdresser on site. The municipality anirists with their 421 members contributed more than $ 67,000,000 pesos during the first quarter of the year to greet this Congress.

Assembly processes were developed at the grassroots level and the proposals that made up the Municipal Committee of the Party, which was constituted with 58 members, a Bureau represented by 11 comrades with Felipe Ahuar López, ratifying as their First Secretary and selected delegates to Congress the following comrades:

Mirian Cobas Conte , Basilicia Vega Bueno , Carlos Gómez Pérez and Felipe Ahuar López .

The results of the process at the provincial level caused them to be represented by the health, sugar production sectors as effective members of the Provincial Committee Basilicia Vega Bueno and Juan Irais Olivares Kindelán .

From then on, all the work was carried out on the basis of the new directives approved in Congress that constituted the working guidelines of the stage that undoubtedly led to forging greater convictions, firmness and dedication to fight, resist and win to keep the conquests achieved.

 

by Abdullah Sam
I’m a teacher, researcher and writer. I write about study subjects to improve the learning of college and university students. I write top Quality study notes Mostly, Tech, Games, Education, And Solutions/Tips and Tricks. I am a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence or virtue.

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